Welcome to Walking it Out

I am someone who can’t sit still for extended periods of time. Ask my parents and they’ll be happy to tell everyone how I used to run through the house on loop - it drove them nuts. Prior to the lockdown and quarantine, I would often go hiking or to the gym to walk for about an hour or so. It helped to get out all my pent up energy.

Even while I’m working in an office, I can find ways to move around without causing too much disruption. Taking a quick walk around the office parking lot helped me cool down and collect my thoughts...especially if it was a really stressful day.

Now that I’m stuck working from home all the time, I try to take a walk at least once or twice a day (no matter the weather). It gets me out of the apartment and, though I keep my distance, gives me an opportunity to say high to the people in my area. Once the quarantine is over, I plan on petting all the dogs I pass on my walk as well.

To get ready for a walk, I quickly check the weather, grab a face mask, and select a fun music playlist to listen too. Thankfully, there are a lot of paths for me to chose from and my walk doesn’t have to be the same each time.

A view of DC on one of my walks.

One of my friends recently mentioned how they miss their commute from work as it was a nice opportunity for them to decompress from the stressful day. I suggested taking a walk in place of driving - at least around the block - after finishing work to make it appear that they were commuting home. I’ve incorporated this routine into my evenings and it’s helped a lot.

Walks not only help me relax, they also help keep me healthy. When I got for a walk, I might be gone for as little as 15 minutes to over an hour. The terrain is hilly and allows for different levels of difficulty. They get my heart rate up and keeps me active.

On days when it’s too rainy for me to go outside twice a day, I do yoga in my living room. There are some great programs to stream, but I prefer listening to my body and doing my own workout. I do miss going outside when the weather is bad, but as is said in the movie The Crow: “it cant rain all the time”.

But when the sun is out and the birds are singing, it’s wonderful taking a walk. The sun provides vitamin D and being around plants makes me happy in general (probably why I’ve started a balcony garden now that I have a balcony). Everything is so green right now and the flowers have been blooming nonstop since mid-March.

A flower I’ve found on a walk.

Often on my walks I’ll come across chalk drawings and messages - little reminders that we’re all in this together. I don’t know if the messages are one person or a group of people, but every few days there are new ones to replace the faded old ones. Hearts and hopscotch games are also common to see.

Some people have placed messages in their windows or hung from their balconies in support of doctors, nurses, and critical workers. They’re nice to see and I often find myself smiling when I spot a new one.

If you are able to, see about taking a walk. Remember to wear a face mask and sun protection. Keep your distance from other people.

And enjoy the time you have.

Stay safe everyone.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment, I love hearing from my readers and I hope y’all like hearing from me.

Until next week.

Welcome To Making Important Decisions

Oh, April, you can't ever be a simple month. There are so many things that go on during the month of April that it's sometimes hard to keep it all straight.

It's not even like April was ever an easy month. When I was still in school, April meant the start of exam season. Sure, I was excited for summer break to start, but the amount of work I had to due to earn that time off was annoying at best and down right depressing at worst. Then for senior year, add in the stress of finding a job, well, I was going just a tiny bit bananas.

At this time last year, I was freaking out about my living situation. Now I am once again freaking out about my living situation. I have to either find a new roommate or a new place to live. If only everything (*cough rent *cough) weren't so expensive in this state. There's also my taxes I have to think about, making sure my car is state approved, etc, etc, etc. Being an adult is a never ending cycle of things that need to be done.

Important decisions are inevitable. There are a lot of times where I have no idea which option to choose or which path to take, but I have to do something. There's always the option to do nothing, but it's not as realistic as I like to pretend that it is.

Making decisions while stressed is a bad idea. At least for me. Some people thrive under stress. Now me, I question myself too much. I like to be calm when a make decisions. I know I've though things out and am ready for whatever comes next.

One of my yoga teachers recommends standing on one foot before making a major decision. She insists that it works. I'm not sure if it's a psychological calming technique or if it's a coincidence, but she swears by it. Do I personally think it works? Well I'm not going to say it doesn't work. I find that standing on one foot helps me focus, almost like meditating.

The other major factor in making a decision is my gut. I used to watch a lot of NCIS and the character Gibs always made a point of listening to his gut. He's totally right. Nothing is more important than gut intuition. A good or bad feeling can make all the difference.

So the next time I'm faced with a major decision here's what I'm going to do. Take a deep breath, lift one foot, focus on the moment and go with my gut. Hopefully I don't question myself too much after that.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Until next week.

Welcome To The Art of Mindfulness

I was talking with someone about over thinking things and this person gave me a great quote. "Thinking about the past causes depression, thinking about the future brings anxiety, but being mindful of the present brings peace." This quote probably is oversimplifying the seriousness of anxiety and depression, but it did get me thinking about a couple of things.

When I am practicing yoga, my yoga teachers try to emphasize the concept of mindfulness. This means being in the present and being in control of my current actions. It allows me to acknowlede the thoughts I might be having, but not engaging them. It also means drawing my focus on my current actions rather than any past or future actions. When I am at yoga practice I should be focused on myself doing yoga, not what I am going to do after yoga nor what I was doing prior to arriving.

A big part of mindfulness is not beating myself up when I make a mistake (or gloating when I do something right). I notice that it happened, but I do not let draw me away from the next movement I have transitioned to.

It is something I had to learn to do and once I did, I found myself being able to relax and let go during my practice. My yoga teachers also talked about the importance of mindfulness outside of yoga. Instead of going through my morning routine on autopilot, I should focus on each task while I do it. I should take my time and notice what each hand is doing.

Taking mindfulness into my daily life is a challenge. There are a lot of distractions and emotions that can draw my mind away from the present. I also need to think of deadlines and any unexpected emergencies that might come up.

This past weekend I learned that mindfulness is very important for a lot of tasks. It can help manage different emotions and decrease the likelihood for me to do something unintelligent. It brings me to a single point in the exact moment that I am in.

I take a deep breath, let it part way out, and do my task. All the while I keep breathing and focusing on the moment.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Now on to learning from my missteps.

Welcome To Indecision

I have a lot of big decisions to make and I don't want to make any of them. If I could stop time for maybe two weeks for me to get my act together and actually think about what I have to do, I might feel better. Of course then I might spend all two weeks of that frozen time on my couch watching Netflix.

I'm moving. It's a fact I'm still having a hard time admitting to, but it's what is happening. I have to find a place to live, downsize (because apparently things are just that expensive where I'm going) and adjust to the new location. It could be worse. I could have lost my job. Thankfully I didn't and they are helping with the move.

Then there are the little day to day decisions I need to make. What will I have for lunch today? Should I get my hair cut this week. Does this bill really need to be paid this month? You know the stuff you know will get done, but you just have to remember to do it.

I'm burnt out. I have reached a point where if I have to make one more choice I'm going to crack.

Supposedly I'll be made stronger after going through all of this.

I'll just have to wait and see.

If you enjoyed this post, or it really pissed you off, please like, share or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope ya'll like hearing from me. Until next week.

Welcome to Nostalgia

 You never get the past back...

This will probably be a short post. It’s been a long week and I’ve been in the car way too much. Just as a reminder, please let me know of any spelling or grammar problems.

I dropped my sister off for her first year of college yesterday. There were tears from her and my mom while I kind of sat back on my heels and realized that one of the coolest chapters of my life had ended. It felt weird for me to be dropping her off and heading home instead of staying at my old school (no we will not have the same alma mater). I know she’s probably feeling a little nervous about the whole thing, heck I remember I was terrified to talk to anyone, but I know she is going to have the best time of her life. It also reminded me how much I’m going to miss being a college student.

It’s not that I’m trying to complain about being an “official” adult or anything (disclaimer: this blog is not a place for me to rant, except at UPS, but that is a later post). I just feel a little lost without the safety net of school and my friends. I miss being able to feel completely safe anywhere I went on campus (I’m in a safe area, but I still wouldn’t wander around here at night). I also did not have to worry about having a car, the bus and trolley system was pretty good. It was easy to make friends and there was always something to do and something going on. Not to mention cheap movie deals and discounts at Good Will.

College was a great transition into adulthood. I loved the freedom of making my own choices and knowing I could crash on any of my friends couches if I had to. Now I still have the freedom to make those choices, but I have to deal with harsher consequences like having to pay to fix my car if it breaks down.

I’m starting to realize that this post is very similar to my first one, but after a month in Wonderland have discovered that I really miss my time at school. With summer ending I have had to face the reality that this job is not an internship, it’s the start of my career.

I am glad that my sister has moved out and it now becoming an “adult”. I can’t wait to hear about her classes and finding out how she does on her first midterm (I hope it’s not tears). I know she is going to make lots of new friends and her roommate seems really nice.

My mom and I had to stop at Dairy Queen on the way back from dropping off my sister. Mom got a Hot Fudge Sunday and got a mini blizzard. It made mom feel better. When we finally got home we watched The Rescuers Down Under because I will probably never mature enough to outgrow cartoons. I think it made her feel better.